Starmer in shambles: Can he last the week?
6/12/202641 min
Armed Forces minister Al Carns and a couple of junior frontbenchers followed the Defence Secretary John Healey in resigning from government last night.
Healey's accusation was a stinging one - that Keir Starmer is failing to commit to keeping the nation safe from attack. That, after Starmer pledged only a few months ago to put "petty politics" to one side and be bold on British defence.
He now faces a testing week like no other. His Defence Investment Plan, long delayed. is due to be launched on Monday. Can that go ahead? If the PM gets through that, he faces the prospect of Andy Burnham returning to the Commons on Friday - who could instantly make a move for the top job.
How damaging have the resignations of the past 24 hours been for Starmer's already dwindling prospects of staying in the job? And how on earth does the PM navigate the next week?
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[global player jingle] This is a Global Player original podcast.
Jon Sopel· Host0:05
Obviously, the focus now is on what happens about defense spending.
Speaker 00:09
We must be able to deter aggression. And yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.
Lewis Goodall· Host0:17
There is something, I think, really peculiar about, um, the Keir Starmer premiership, John, and, and its end. And it's qui- I think, hard in some ways to get it across to people exactly why it is so many of his colleagues are so deeply pissed off.
Al Carns· Soundbite0:30
Well, this is, this is part of the problem. You know, we're fighting each other rather than getting behind the nation, unifying the nation around a common principle of purpose, and that purpose is defend the nation, defend the freedoms that we enjoy, and ensure we got the determination and courage to make those difficult decisions.
Jon Sopel· Host0:44
That is Al Khan's, until yesterday afternoon, the Armed Forces minister, a decorated military veteran himself, but pouring scorn on this government's attempts to find a solution to how to fund our defense budget. What does Keir Starmer do now? Welcome to the News Agents.
Speaker 01:05
[news jingle] The News Agents.
Jon Sopel· Host1:11
It's John.
Lewis Goodall· Host1:14
It's Lewis, and the, one of the front pages, I think sums up everything that happened yesterday extremely well, uh, in just three ye-- in three words, Healey torpedoes Starmer. As you and Emily were saying on the show yesterday, John, um, I can't think